In League With Demons
by Stone Shield
Summary: Naruto in the DC world. Starts with Season 1.  Possibly Naruto/Diana.  Rated M, always, for language, and we'll see where it goes from there.


In League With Demons

Disclaimer: Don't own Justice League or Naruto.

Speaking Normally

_Thoughts_

**Demonic Voice**

Chapter 1 - In the beginning...

(Opening: the rescue of J'onn)

"Who's the rookie in the tiara?" Green Lantern asked Superman, the kryptonian carrying a ship past him.

"Don't know," the superhero answered back, grunting from the struggles the ship was putting up before finally hurling it into the canyon wall. Dusting off his hands, he reappraised the battle. "Another good question would be who's that?" added the Man of Steel, nodding in the direction of another newcomer.

On the opposite end of the battlefield, a new fighter had joined in. He was not using straightforward attacks like the others though. Instead, he threw weapons similar to Batman's at the ships. At first, Superman thought he was inexperienced to think such small projectiles could be effective, but the man just stood confidently. Three seconds later, the ships he'd attacked all blew up in massive explosions.

"_How'd he do that?_" wondered Superman.

The last of the ships, heavily damaged, fell from the skies to the downed Hawkgirl and the dark-haired 'rookie'. A beam from Green Lantern shot across the chasm to engulf the pair in a bubble of protective green energy, forming a barrier that protected them from the impact of the ship.

"Hey, Bats!" called a humorous voice as it approached, its source a red and yellow blur. "Lose something?" it asked, stopping beside Batman, revealing the Flash, the missing Batjet's wing in his arms. His attention though immediately fixated on the statuesque woman in the tiara. "Wow! Where have you been all my life?" he asked with a broad grin, passing the wing to Batman.

"Themyscira," she answered.

"Huh?"

"The home of the Amazons," supplied Hawkgirl as she and the others landed among the group. "But I always thought it was just a legend. I never thought it was real."

"I assure you, it is as real as the ground we stand on," the woman assured. "I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons."

"Pinch me. I must be dreaming," sighed Flash, earning an elbow jab to the gut from Superman. "Ow!"

"The island of Themyscira is protected by the Gods, but I could not idly stand by while the rest of the world was in danger," she added, voice dripping with innocence.

"It was lucky you came by when you did," Superman assured her.

The Martian stepped forward. "No, not luck. I telepathically summoned them."

"And where's the other rookie?" asked Green Lantern sternly, interrupting J'onn.

"Behind you," Batman informed the militant Green Lantern.

Stunned at not noticing, the dark skinned man turned around. True to Batman's word, the other newcomer was standing silently behind him. "Well?" he asked, waiting for a name.

The figure was dressed in a pair of worn blue jeans and a tight red t-shirt, pouches attached to various places. He was well built, obviously a fighter by the lithe corded muscles straining against his clothes. He gave off an aura of being annoyed though. In fact, it looked like he'd been interrupted in the middle of a shower as his hair was wet. Speaking of which, his hair hung in limp reddish tinted gold locks. His face was obscured by some white porcelain-like facemask. Across his back was strapped a short sword that Batman recognized as something akin to a katana.

"…Maelstrom," answered the figure, his voice deep and smooth.

"Okay, look, I'm usually pretty quick on the uptake, but would someone please tell me just what the heck is going on here?" asked Flash, exasperated.

The gathering of heroes stood and listened as J'onn told them the story of his people and how the alien invaders had destroyed them, and how they planned the same for Earth. At the same time, Superman was repairing Batman's ride, using his heat vision to weld the wing back into place.

A thunderous roar echoed through the air as what looked like a building thunderstorm grew on the horizon. Lightning flashed among the ominous pitch black clouds. "It's begun," stated J'onn, as the gathered heroes turned looked on at the coming storm.

"What are they doing?" asked Hawkgirl, the invaders' current actions baffling her.

Eyes locked on the oncoming bank of clouds, J'onn answered. "The invaders are a nocturnal race. They want to blot out the sun so they can live in perpetual darkness."

"Friends of yours?" Flash asked Batman.

The cowled man turned to the Flash with an all business grimace. "It's no joke," he reprimanded lightly.

Always one to think on his feet, Flash came up with the obvious answer, the paralytic agent used by the Martians the last time, proving that he had actually had the patience to listen to J'onn's story.

J'onn shook his head, a look of disappointment on his green face. "No. The gas is made from a rare martian plant. I brought a sample with me…but it was confiscated and destroyed when I was captured."

"Is there any substance on Earth that could affect them?" asked the previously silent red-blonde.

"I…don't know," answered the Martian. And even if there were, it would doubtless take far too long to find out. Time that they didn't have.

"Uhh, what's plan 'B'?" asked Flash.

"I believe we are," the masked red-blonde answered.

Diana nodded in agreement. "We obviously need to take out those factories!" she emphasized.

"Hold on a second! Lady, this is no job for amateurs," interrupted Green Lantern. "I can vouch for everyone else here, but you two are just rookies," he asked, looking to Diana and the dubbed 'Maelstrom'.

Diana bristled at being treated like she was a novice. "We Amazons are warriors born! Want to test me?" she all but spat.

"Now's not the time, John," advised Superman. "We need all the help we can get!"

Lantern turned to Maelstrom. "…Fine. Sorry," he apologized to the Amazon before turning to the other 'rookie'. "What about you? You can't be older than nineteen or twenty. There's no way we can allow you to come with us."

And it was then that the mostly silent newcomer added his own opinion. "I could care less about your permission," he growled. "There's a job to do and I mean to do it. Any of you think you can stop me, your welcome to try. Otherwise, get out of my why."

Sighing in defeat, the former marine turned Lantern began to lay out a plan of attack. Using his ring, a map of the planet was projected, with dots showing the known alien invader sites. "Tactically, we'll have multiple objectives so we'll need to split into teams."

Grinning, Flash was immediately at the Amazon princess' side. "Dibs on the Amazon."

Unused to being around males, not to mention very odd ones at that, the princess was momentarily flustered at the close contact. The heroes began to pair off.

"I'll take Eastern Europe," offered Maelstrom, taking one of the small communication devices from Batman before walking away.

"One of us will go with you," added Superman.

Maelstrom just looked back at the 'Man of Steel', his face unreadable behind his mask. "Not necessary." And before any of them could retort, a static buildup began to encircle the strange hero, the air taking on the smell of ozone. Visible electricity arced around him before he disappeared in a flash of gold energy.

"Damn rookies," spoke John disapprovingly in the speechlessness of the others. "Alright then…"

Somewhere In The Area Of Siberia:

He reappeared in a burst of light, landing lightly on the frozen tundra. "_Brisk_," he thought to himself, only to once more be thankful that his…unique…physiology kept him warm. With his exceptional metabolism he'd always burned a little hotter than others.

Taking in his surroundings, he immediately frowned. The ground was pockmarked from explosive blasts, and the sky, thick with dark clouds. It didn't take long to trace them back to their source.

"An army of aliens against lil' ol' me," he sighed to himself. "…Such poor odds…for them," spoke Maelstrom, rolling his shoulders, and whispered one of his favorite techniques. "Multi Shadow Clone."

Two And A Half Hours Later:

The battle was an interesting one. The aliens were much more resilient than he'd expected. They were actually proving to be a challenge. Sure, he wasn't going all out. He could probably have just blown the entire complex with a shot of youkai, but it wasn't nearly as fun as this.

"Bzikt!...Maelstrom, come in!" his communicator sparking to life. Knocking down an alien with a haymaker, he took out the device.

"I'm busy," he said curtly.

"Report. What's your status?" broadcast the transmitter. He recognized the voice now as belonging to Green Lantern.

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, he pressed the button once more. "Kicking ass like it's going out of style," he answered in a moment of levity. The line went silent for several seconds, which he was glad for as a half dozen of the almost bacterial in appearance aliens dove onto him. "_I hate dogpiles!_" And seconds later the pile erupted as he came bursting out, punches and kicks flying as the pale white aliens were thrown off him.

"What about the smoke factory?"

Looking to the smoking…remains…of what had once been a machine emitting billowing smoke into the air, he could only smile. Not bad work for such a short timetable. "Disabled," he answered.

"You certain?" in a disbelieving tone.

He bristled a little at that question. "…Absolutely," he growled into the communicator.

"As soon as you can, regroup. We've got problems," and after providing coordinates to meet up, the line went dead.

Frowning, he began to count. "…_65…66…67 freaky amoeba aliens. Alright, that should only keep me for a few minutes if I take my time._" Smiling, he dispelled his remaining clones, wanting to enjoy the rest of the fight for as long as he could.

Reappearing in metropolis, it didn't take too long to find the others. That is, J'onn and Diana. For the moment they were the only others at the rendezvous point. Dropping, he landed lightly on his toes. Standing, he gave a small nod of acknowledgement to the two. The other heroes inbound, they waited, and watched the city burn around them.

Viewing the panicking people, Diana felt her outlook on the world darken a little. "Perhaps Mother was right about mankind. They're nothing but untamed savages."

"Do not judge them too harshly," J'onn urged. "They act out of fear."

"And yet fear is only a plausible excuse for so long," came Maelstrom's whispered addition. "It is up to each and every person to conquer their fears lest they themselves become conquered." Little more was said as a moment later Flash and Green Lantern joined them.

"What happened to you, rookie?" asked GL, the first to notice the silent one's appearance. Once it was noticed, they all seemed a little taken aback by his clothes.

"What?" he asked, confused at the looks of shock he was being given. His clothes were intact, for the most part. His shirt was shredded across the chest with marks of blood and had multiple blaster burns from the lucky few that had managed to hit him. His jeans, luckily, only had a few gashes across the legs, having survived mostly unscathed.

"You okay, kid?" asked GL, worried at the rookie's going off on his own and returning a bloody mess.

"…Fine."

"Uh, you do know you're covered in blood, right?" asked Flash.

Beneath his mask, Maelstrom blinked. Staving off further remarks as to his physical state, he pulled up his sleeve to show one of the wounds he'd received. The blaster had nearly taken his arm off, but now there was only an unblemished tan, muscular arm, covered in blood.

"Are you certain you don't require medical assistance?" asked J'onn.

Maelstrom groaned, rubbing his temples. They couldn't just take what he said? "Fine," he sighed, and took out a kunai. Placing it on his wrist, and ignoring growing looks of horror, he cut deep.

"Are you out of your mind, rookie?" bellowed Green Lantern.

Maelstrom just held up the bleeding limb for all to see. Only, it wasn't bleeding anymore. They were actually able to witness the self-inflicted wound heal and knit itself. "…Satisfied?"

"That wasn't necessary," commented Diana, her own heart hammering at the sight of a comrade nearly cutting off his arm.

Maelstrom simply eyed the princess. "None of you would have believed me had I simply told you. Showing you was the simplest way."

Grudgingly, their worry for him began to fade.

"So what's the problem?" asked Maelstrom, leaning against the side of the roof, being sure not to get his katana in the way.

J'onn stepped forward. "Superman and Hawkgirl have been captured."

"And Bats?" asked Flash.

The Martian's head bowed, and Maelstrom knew before the words left the green man's mouth. "…He acted heroically…to the very end."

"Do we have a plan?" Maelstrom asked in a mildly curious tone. Sure, there was always the good old smash-n-grab, but a well thought out plan always had a higher success rate.

…That and no one else here could heal as well as he could, requiring them to be more careful.

"I can't believe we're doing this…again," muttered Flash to Green Lantern.

Lantern frowned. "If Superman and Hawkgirl are still in there someone has to go in and rescue them." He turned to the Martian member of their group. "You are sure they're still in there?"

Kneeling next to Diana, J'onn went into a momentary trance as his senses extended, probing the structure for the two heroes. "Yes, your friends are alive, but we must act quickly. The Imperium is coming."

"The who?" asked a confused Flash.

"I don't like how that sounds," Maelstrom grit out. He had a good idea of what this 'Imperium' was, if the invaders' battle tactics were the same as what he thought.

"The supreme intelligence that controls the invaders… We have met before," he added grudgingly.

"Can we trust this space case?" Flash whispered to Lantern.

GL shrugged, "What choice do we have?" Very little, though he wouldn't say so aloud. Bad morale cost battles. Standing, "Okay, we're goin' in," and he proceeded to lay out a rough plan.

"You know, I could have helped with the whole 'distract the tripods' plan," Maelstrom muttered idly as the remaining members of their group snuck through the tunnel-like hallways of the facility, leaving Flash as a decoy. Okay, sure they didn't know that he could multiply into thousands of himself, but they didn't even ask him how he could help. No matter how silent he'd been as of late, being on a team, even if temporarily, was having its toll.

"Yeah, well, you're not. Deal with it," Green Lantern shot back grimly. This was a risky mission at best; they didn't need a rookie fouling it all up.

A second later Flash rejoined them. "Hope I didn't keep you," he began to say, only to be cut off by the sounds of the amoeba like aliens not too far off. As one, the five pressed themselves against the wall.

At the head of the group, J'onn peeked around the corner. There were two of the white invaders standing in front of a minor control console and they were armed. Looking back to his allies, he raised his hand in a placating gesture. "Wait here," he urged, and after getting the okay from the others, shape shifted into the form of the white aliens.

Dashing around the turn he must have looked like a comrade in trouble as he called out to them in desperate cries in their own language. The two, seemingly galvanized into action, ran back along the route that he had come. Right as they came within sight of the heroes of Earth, they shrieked in pain. J'onn, with a look of grim satisfaction, had his phased arms protruding from their torsos, and it seemed to hurt them… a lot. So much so that they passed out from the torturous pain. "Come," he insisted once they'd fallen.

Every one of the natives shivered at the sight. That…did not look pleasant.

Flash was the only one to open his mouth though. "Okay, is it just me or does he creep you out, too?"

"Okay, this place…is weird," commented Flash.

It was true; the place looked like a nightmare against the very laws of nature. That, and the décor was somewhat nauseating in Maelstrom's opinion.

"We're close now," announced J'onn, picking up the pace. That is until they were stopped by a massive round door of some kind. Placing his green hand against it, "I sense they are somewhere beyond these walls."

Diana was the first to try her luck, attempting to open it or possibly even break it down with her super strength, but to no avail. "Uunn…UUNGH... It's no use. We'll have to find another way."

Lantern wasn't as easy to convince. "Stand back," and raising his arm, shot a bright green beam from his ring that began to cut through the thick door, albeit slowly.

Looking up, as if he could see through the very ceiling, "We haven't much time left," J'onn announced.

Outside, frightened citizens stared at the heavens in panic and fear as something new appeared. The dark, murky clouds split as a massive shape lowered from the atmosphere. It was a ship.

The thick hunk of what looked and sounded like metal fell away with a kick from Green Lantern once he was done cutting. The inner room was just that, a room. And from its ceiling hung the two missing members of their group, unconscious. Each wrapped in a mucous-like membrane attached to the roof. But while the others rushed immediately to attend to the fallen heroes, Maelstrom and J'onn held back. Both were experienced, or just paranoid, enough to know that this was far too easy.

"Wait!" J'onn called, but too late. The moment the others came in range of Superman and Hawkgirl, the room sealed once more, and the two unconscious heroes opened their eyes…their red eyes. Pores appeared all around the chamber, filling the now enclosed space with a noxious gas.

"_Oh shit,_" Maelstrom groaned and tried to beat down the nearest wall, with only mild success. He was already feeling too dizzy to stand, let alone to try and build up a Rasengan. One after the other they all passed out. "…Crap…" he managed to say, annoyed, before falling to the floor, the world going dark.

Waking up was…disappointing, to say the least. Here they all were, one big happy team. "_Great, we're alive. That just means the bad guys are gonna gloat_," Maelstrom mentally groaned. Why did they always have to monologue?

Beside him J'onn groaned as he came around.

"J'onn…J'onn!" Superman called trying to coax him back into further consciousness. When the Martian's eyes opened, he knew he was back amongst them. "You shouldn't have risked your lives for us," the red, blue, and yellow hero chastised, disappointed.

"Would you have done less for me?"

"OooOoOoHhhHH…my aching head!" moaned Flash, as he too was coming around.

"Well, good morning, Sunshine," Maelstrom greeted, deadpan. There wasn't much to be humorous about at the moment.

That snapped Flash right into alertness. "Hold up, quiet guy told a joke? We're gonna die, aren't we?"

"Most likely," scoffed the red-blonde in a laid back tone.

All awake, their attention was drawn to one of the white aliens walking out to the edge of a raised section of flooring, looking down on them. "Earth's mightiest heroes…" and his form began to change. He took on the appearance of a brown-haired, Caucasian male, in his early thirties, someone very familiar if you'd seen the news lately. In other words, Maelstrom was clueless.

"And who are you, Mister Wizard?"

"Senator Carter," answered Superman, mystified and yet understanding. Puzzle pieces were beginning to move around, shifting into place.

The shape shifter smirked down at them. "Unfortunately, the real Carter never returned from Mars," he answered very smugly.

Superman grimaced back at him. "And you used me to weaken Earth's defenses," he surmised, jaw clenched in anger.

The Carter alien's smirk grew. "You were so eager to cooperate. Thanks to you the humans were totally helpless against us."

Eyes narrowed, "It's not over yet," Superman ground out.

Carter's smirk split into a full grin. "Wrong again." And the ceiling above them all began to melt away, revealing the gigantic ship floating above them amidst the dark clouds and lightning filled sky. More importantly it allowed the smaller vessel coming from the ship to fly right into the building, halting mere meters from the floor.

"All hail…the Imperium!" Carter announced, and a portal opened in the end of the ship. Smoke billowing out, a large, purple…blob…with tentacles…floated down from within.

"_It looks like a loogie_," Maelstrom thought sarcastically. He then mentally sniggered at the thought of Kyubi horking up something like that.

He noticed though that while the others looked at it with confusion, anxiousness, and a little worry, J'onn's appearance was that of recognition, barely restrained rage, and disgust.

The purple…blob…floated towards them at a sedate pace. As if it had all the time in the world. "J'onn J'onzz. It's been a long time," the entity, the Imperium, spoke amiably, aloud through telepathy, as if to an old friend. Anyone could tell that either party hated the other, reviling them completely.

The goop that seemed to hold them in place pushed outward, raising the section holding the Maritan upward, depositing him, free of restraints, in front of the glob. Once done, a pair of the white, bacteria-like aliens came up to him, sending electricity arcing through him with their pole weapons. Somewhere between a groan and a scream of agony, the Martian fell to his knees, his broken concentration leaving him revealed in his true Martian form.

"Much better. You have defied us for centuries."

"And I will never bow before you or any of your kind," J'onn announced via mental broadcast, climbing shakily to his feet.

"Then we will personally see to finishing what should have been accomplished long ago. The elimination of the last Martian," the Imperium pledged, floating ever closer to J'onn. Its multiple tentacles extended before burrowing through his skin.

It was sickening, but none dared look away, though Flash was close to hurling up his turkey club.

It was easy to see, and understand, that it was causing an immense amount of pain for the Martian. And yet, he seemed to endure. But the Imperium was not finished. It pulled J'onn ever closer, until finally it absorbed the green alien into its gelatinous bulk. J'onn's silhouette could be seen amidst electrical flashes within the creature, his agonizing screams filling the air.

"Let go of him, you filthy-" Superman struggled against his bonds, trying to break free to help the Martian, but like the others was having no success.

"Yield to us, J'onn J'onzz," the Imperium practically cooed.

Straining against the pain and his imprisonment, "Never!" J'onn cried out.

"Why do you resist? Embrace this truth. After all these years, you have finally lost."

"…Have I?"

"You're hiding something… A secret deep within the recesses of your mind…" the Imperium's voice taking on a tone of worry, if only for the unknown. "Is this another of your Martian tricks?"

"Do I sense…fear?"

"What are you hiding?"

Momentarily regaining control, "NOW!" J'onn shouted. A moment later an explosion rocked through the room. The source…the ion matrix crystal.

As the smoke cleared, a familiar form could be discerned.

"Batman?" Flash exclaimed, surprised, and as always confused.

"It can't be," murmured the Amazon princess.

J'onn's voice took on a tone of triumph. "I mentally shielded him so he couldn't be detected!" And before any of the white aliens could get off a shot, the Dark Knight reached into the gelatinous container, placing a device on the power crystal, a device that seemed to react to the very crystal itself. The red crystal was overtaken by veins of blue energy which soon purged the entire system of the crimson energy.

"What have you done!" shouted the Carter imposter.

"Reversed the ion charge," Batman answered calmly.

"The crystal…destroy it!" the Imperium ordered. Batman rappelled away as the white aliens opened fire with their energy weapons on the enclosure around the crystal, which just deflected the blasts.

"It's shielded!" Carter announced, though all could see it.

Outside, the rolling thunder clouds were split by a beam of pure blue energy from the smoke factory, which seemed to dispel their very existence and clearing the sky to the bright sunlight beyond.

As the first rays of light peaked through the open roof of the factory, the white aliens scurried away to darker corners, out of the light. Their bodies singing, even melting under the light.

The Imperium itself was detained as J'onn, bursting out of it, grabbed it by its tentacles and held tight, holding it in the light. "You live underground and shun the light. Why? Does it burn your pale, putrid skin?" asked, demanded, the Martian. The Imperium positively shrieked from the pain of its flesh, what it had that could be considered flesh, boiling away.

"Oooh! That's one nasty sunburn," commented Flash, thoroughly grossed out by the bubbling puss ball.

Swinging in, the cowled member of the team landed in front of them. Taking a torch from his belt, he began burning away the material holding them in place, starting with Diana. "Ultraviolet rays," he explained. "Coming from the depths of space, the invaders have no resistance to our sun's radiation."

"So you did find their weakness after all," spoke an encouraged Amazon.

Understanding, Superman's eyes glowed red before using his heat vision to free his hands. With a little help, they were all able to get free, until only Maelstrom remained. "Don't bother," he commented to Batman when the dark knight made to free him. "Bet you didn't expect this," and he disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

"What the-" Flash asked, confused.

"Where the Hell'd he go?" growled GL.

A crashing sound from above alerted them to the crumpling ceiling. Something was impacting the structure. Barely a second later, they found out what as the disappeared Maelstrom burst through. "C'mon, everyone, this place could use a sunroof!" he called down to them.

Understanding immediately dawning upon the heroes, those that could fly tore into the buildings superstructure. Batman and Flash handled the ground forces, engaging the aliens and leaving the fleeing invaders to be consumed by the light. Holes began to appear more rapidly, light filtering in more and more, forcing them to scurry around like cockroaches.

"If you could get out, why didn't you?" asked Superman, punching one of the aliens through a wall.

Maelstrom shrugged. "J'onn told me not to. It was all part of the plan."

The Imperium, choosing flight from a dangerous situation over fighting it out, retreated to his ship. Giving J'onn one last jolt of pain, it retracted its tentacles and fled.

"Imperium!" the Carter impersonating alien pleaded, latching onto its ascending leader.

"Unhand me, worm!" batting the underling away like it was a piece of garbage, where it melted away in the sunlight.

Once the glob-like alien was inside, the smaller vessel made a slow beeline towards its larger counterpart. "Unuh, not so fast," Maelstrom grit out, and got ready to head after Diana and Hawk Girl, in pursuit. Still…he looked back and saw Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Flash fighting off the ground troops. He felt a little conflicted. Which should he do?

He mentally palmed his face. Both, that was the answer. With a simple gesture, copies of Maelstrom rained down from the sky into the fighting below. "Go on, boys, show those bums how we do things back home." In the meantime, turning back to the alien ship, an idea came to mind as he watched Diana hold the ship through her lasso alone.

It was a melee. The aliens, no matter that their leader had fled, fought hard against the heroes. And even though they were winning, time was running out as the smoke factory began to collapse around them, endangering the lives of the trapped humans in the invaders' mucous-like sacs. To the joint surprise of the heroes and invaders, Maelstrom fell from above, and then another one, and so on until several dozen joined the fray. This freed up Superman to begin rescuing the imprisoned people.

Hauling Batman out from under a falling section of roof, "Hate to lose you again. Maybe we'd better get out of here!" Flash suggested, as a support next to him popped like a gooey balloon.

"Not without them!" Superman stated, cutting the sacs open and pulling the people out. They were unconscious. The mucous-like fluid within seemed to keep them alive, but also sedated. The remaining invaders tried to stop him, but J'onn phased up through the floor to get behind them, knocking them out.

"Flash! Give me a hand!" Superman called to the red and gold hero who was there in a blur of red.

Reaching down to take one of the people by the shoulder, he recoiled a bit. "Eeew, gross," he commented at the snotty material covering them that was now on his gloved hand.

"NOW!" Superman corrected.

Grudgingly, Flash grabbed onto people and started racing them out to safety. Several surviving clones also lent some help, carrying people out over their shoulders.

Clearing his mind, he focused. Sage Mode was a difficult thing to learn, let alone master. And even then, mastery could never truly be achieved, just a semblance of it. Though, he was proud to say that his own version was better than his master's. He wished he could still summon. It would be child's play for Bunta or Ken to slice up the massive ship overhead.

"What the Hell are you just standing there for?" shouted Hawkgirl from where she hovered above the smaller craft, pummeling it with her mace.

The skin around his eyes turned reddish orange, and he knew for certain that he now had horizontal rectangular irises, just like the toads. This was it; he could feel the energy swelling within him. Opening his eyes, he stood up. "Sorry for the delay," he called back. This would take some doing. He was good with wind element jutsus, sure, but this was a big one. Holding his arms out in front of him, palms facing each other, he concentrated on gathering the wind. The beginning stage of this technique was similar to how the rasengan worked. After several seconds, he was rewarded by a swirl of wind that soon erupted like a catalyst triggering a tightly contained vortex in his hands. It was a cluster of wind, easily the size of a beach ball. "Princess…Hawkgirl…Move away!" he shouted.

Looking back, both noticed the odd swirling ball of wind. "What's that for?" Hawkgirl shouted back.

Getting impatient as the justu was taxing his system, "If you want to live…MOVE!" and he threw his hands outwards, muttering "Slicing Twister".

At first there was nothing, the ball held its form. Then, it all came ripping apart at the seams. A massive funnel of wind shot forth. It was only from his warnings that the two super heroines got out of the way in time. The mini tornado connected with the smaller ship, shaking it. More so, the air filled with the sound of screeching metal as the winds could be seen tearing into the ship like some massive blender. It was thrown against the side of the larger ship, exploding against the hull, leaving little damage, sadly.

The large ship began to ascend, escaping.

The assembled heroes observed the dispersing storm clouds from atop a tall building. Without the support of the machines, they were vanishing at an astounding rate. The darkness and strife of the last week had finally come to an end.

"It's not over just yet," the blank masked warrior added, eliciting curious looks from his new comrades.

"What did you do?" asked Superman for them all.

Maelstrom chuckled deeply. "I escaped the factory a little over five minutes before you woke up. That was why the me with you guys disappeared. It was a clone."

"So where were you for those minutes," Batman questioned, a hypothesis already in mind.

Head lolling to one side, "I left a little something for our new friends. A going away present." He sounded a little too cheery. "If my sense of time is still okay…" he looked up, soon joined by the others. Almost unseen in the brightening sky was a pinprick of light. Sighing satisfactorily, "J'onn told me where to look with his mind whammy thing. I put some explosives on their main engines. They can still move, but it'll be a looooong trip." Flash was one of the more vocal of them. While the others gave nods of understanding, maybe a smile, the red and gold hero was chuckling heartily.

"Least this way, they won't be sneaking up on anyone else for a while." Maelstrom turned to leave while the others were preoccupied with the scenery, and came face to face with Batman. The two just locked eyes for near a minute before Maelstrom simply walked around him. "Hold onto that radio," he suggested.

A week after the invasion had left, the communicator began to beep. Taking it out of the storage case with his things he put it in his ear. After a minute of listening, all he could say was, "You're joking, right?"

"Nice place," Naruto murmured to himself. Everyone was separate and exploring the space station, The Watchtower. It was a massive orbital installation; a paradigm of modern and advanced technology. The floors were plated metal that echoed under his boots as he walked along the spartan hallways. The air smelled so sterile.

"I admit, I'm surprised you came."

He didn't turn around, but soon the dark knight walked up next to him, staring out the window as well. "…"

"So what's your take on Superman's proposal?"

"It has merit," he answered after a few seconds. "There's certainly a good deal more a group could accomplish than anyone alone."

Batmsn sensed the doubt in his words though. "But?"

The ninja-like hero frowned beneath his mask. "So many powerhouses gathered together? It spells out potential problems with the government, sooner or later."

"Agreed. So, are you in?"

"…I'll give it a try," he responded, "But I don't have a good record with teams."

AN/ Man that took a while to do. It's always the start that takes the longest. Anyway, starting not too different than some others out there. Will be different in the future.


End file.
